Conventional lubricants used for magnetic recording media applications, such as Tetraol, have problems associated with the presence of —OH end groups. These problems include clustering due to interactions between end groups, a thicker lube layer due to formation of inverted U-shaped structures, thermal decomposition at high temperature at the ether bond, and lube mogul formation due to high mobility and clustering.
Some of these problems associated with conventional lubricants are illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates the end-group clustering problem due to interactions between —OH end groups and also the normal lubrication layer thickness on the disk. FIG. 2 illustrates formation of inverted U-shaped structures resulting from the attachment of the end groups on the COC surface. Additionally, for an HAMR (Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording) system, in which the recording takes place at an elevated temperature, the surface adhesion may decrease, resulting in increases in lube mobility, lube mogul formation and lube decomposition. All of these problems contribute to a reduced reliability and performance for the hard disk drive (HDD).